


Sparkling, Copying

by cureelliott



Category: Kuroko no Basuke | Kuroko's Basketball, Smile PreCure!
Genre: Brother-Sister Relationships, Crossover, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-09-11
Updated: 2012-09-11
Packaged: 2017-11-14 00:41:32
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,935
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/509491
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/cureelliott/pseuds/cureelliott
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Kise Ryouta really loves his younger sister. But why does she keep shutting him out?</p>
            </blockquote>





	Sparkling, Copying

When Mama and Papa bring the baby home from the hospital, everyone fawns over her. Ryouta, who has been fawned over all of his life, is confused and a little angry. There is nothing this baby could be doing that is cuter than what he could do. Mama and Papa are being foolish. 

“Would you like to hold your little sister, Ryouta?” His mother asks, motioning for him to come closer. He’s never seen his mother so tired before. The new baby is taking up too much of her energy. Ryouta nods anyways and sits next to his mother on the couch. All of their family members and friends are watching him and that makes Ryouta feel a little better. 

“Watch her head,” his mother says, and transfers the warm bundle of blankets into his arms. Ryouta looks into his little sisters face and she peers right back at him with her big, sparkling eyes. Ryouta frowns at her at first, because she has established herself as his enemy. But after looking at her for a little while, he can see her appeal. Her round face and wispy hair can’t compare to Ryouta’s natural, classic appeal so she isn’t a real threat. Mama and Papa will be sick of her after a couple of weeks. He smiles at her, perhaps a little maliciously, and she begins to cry. 

The sound she makes is tremendous, her tiny lungs filling the room with her anguish. Mama immediately takes Yayoi from Ryouta’s arms and tries to soothe her. 

This is the first time someone has cried while looking at Ryouta. He doesn’t know what he did wrong. 

\--- 

Yayoi eventually stops crying when Ryouta smiles at her and starts laughing instead. Ryouta makes it his life’s goal to make Yayoi laugh as often as possible. 

When Yayoi is two, he gives her a coloring book for her birthday and praises her for all the squiggles she fills it with. He hugs her often. 

Leaving Yayoi to go to school every day is hard for both of them. She cries when he leaves and he has to pinky promise every day that he’ll come back to her soon. 

\--- 

At their father’s funeral, Yayoi cries the loudest. Ryouta doesn’t cry at all. 

\--- 

Mama is too busy to take Yayoi and Ryouta to school because of work. Ryouta is in charge of ensuring Yayoi’s safety and he takes this responsibility very seriously. On her first day of primary school, Yayoi cries the entire way. She’s afraid of the cars and the strangers on the street.  
But Ryouta promises her everything will be okay. 

“We’re almost there, Yayoichhi! Just a couple more blocks!” He’s holding her hand and when they stop at a crosswalk, he takes out a handkerchief to wipe the snot and tears from her face. 

“You did it Yayoichhi! Onii-chan is very proud of you!” he says when they reach the school gates. 

Yayoi smiles at him and Ryouta feels his heart melt. 

\--- 

At home, Yayoi isn’t as quiet or nervous. She laughs and shouts and makes a mess with her crayons. Grandma has been coming to their house for the last little while in the afternoons. Yayoi likes to tell her all about her day and show her all the pretty pictures she colors. Grandma makes them a snack and prepares dinner. 

“How was your day, Ryouta-kun? Did you learn anything today?” his Grandma asks him every day, and every day Ryouta says no. He feels like he never really learned anything, he just mimics what other kids do. Other kids laugh and smile and play. Ryouta is very good at mimicking. 

Yayoi remembers less and less about Papa every day and that makes Ryouta sad. He wishes he could talk to someone about Papa, but he doesn’t want to remind Mama. 

At night, when Mama comes home from work, she eats the leftovers Grandma saved for her and then kisses both Ryouta and Yayoi goodnight. Ryouta pretends to be asleep, but he always stays up long enough to listen to Mama crying in the next room and Yayoi breathing quietly. 

\--- 

Eventually, just before Ryouta is ready to enter middle school, Mama gets a promotion. She doesn’t have to work as late, but Ryouta and Yayoi still have to make dinner for themselves. Grandma has gotten too old to come over and prepare it for them. 

“Yayoicchi, be careful! You might burn yourself!” Ryouta stands behind Yayoi, watching her drop vegetables into their boiling pot. The tie of her apron is coming undone so Ryouta adjusts it for her, tying it off in a neat bow. 

“I’m a big girl now, Onii-chan, I can do this myself!” As she drops a particularly large carrot into the pot, a bit of water splashes up. 

Ryouta jerks Yayoi back by her apron. “Look out!” The water lands on his arm and stings his skin, and he hears a large bang as Yayoi hits her head against the cabinet. Fat tears start pouring down her cheeks. 

“Ryouta,” Yayoi whimpers, but he hushes her. He picks her up, surprised by just how small she still is, and takes her over to the couch. He gets her an ice pack for her head and a bowl of ice cream to eat while he finishes making dinner. 

His arm stings.

When Mama comes home and sees Yayoi with her ice pack and sore eyes, Ryouta is scolded. 

“You’re supposed to look after her, Kise Ryouta! Be a good older brother!”

Ryouta promises he’ll look after her better next time. 

\--- 

Mama works for a fashion company and one day, they’re short on models at a photoshoot. This particular photo shoot was on a weekend and Mama wasn’t able to get a babysitter for Ryouta and Yayoi. The cameraman spots Ryouta trying to comfort Yayoi in the back of the room. All the loud noises and bright lights are making her nervous and she much rather be at home watching Kamen Rider. 

“Oi, kid! Get in front of the camera, we’ll take the last couple shots with you!” Ryouta is hesitant to leave Yayoi’s side, but his mother looks nervous and he wants to help. 

It feels good when people take pictures of him and he likes posing for the camera. He gets to wear a couple fancy outfits and when the shoot is over, the camera man tells Mama that Ryouta is a natural and she should get him an agent. 

\---

When Ryouta appears on a magazine cover for the first time, Yayoi is ecstatic. 

“Onii-chan, you’re so cool!” She pins the magazine cover, as well as all the subsequent photos of Ryouta in the magazine on her wall along side her drawings and pictures of Kamen Rider Scissors. 

\---

Girls start following Ryouta and Yayoi home after school. They giggle and coo his name and he’d be lying if he said he didn’t like the attention. He always like the attention. But being followed frightens Yayoi, even when he tells her that it’s alright and that the girls aren’t going to hurt her. 

One girl is even brave enough to approach them. She goes to Ryouta’s school, but she isn’t in the same class as him. She talks to him sweetly and asks if he has a girlfriend. He says no and the girl glares at Yayoi. She must think Yayoi has a crush on him. 

After that, Yayoi doesn’t collect Ryouta’s magazine covers anymore and she stops asking him if it’s fun being a model. Ryouta still enjoys all the attention though. 

\---

Ryouta has always fawned over Yayoi. He liked it when other people fawned over him, so it must make her feel good too. He tells her how pretty she is and how cute she looks. He takes pictures of her on his cellphone and show them to his basketball teammates. Midoricchi scoffs and Aominecchi makes lewd comments about big brother complexes. Kurokocchi tell him she looks frightened in all his photographs. 

“She’s not scared! She’s just shy!” Ryouta laughs and throws his arm around Kurokocchi’s shoulders.

Yayoi isn’t afraid of him, he loves her! 

\--- 

When Yayoi starts going to middle school, she comes home crying every day. She locks herself in her room and won’t talk to him. Ryouta spends hours sitting outside her door, begging her to come out. 

“Yayoicchi, tell Onii-chan what’s wrong! Did someone tease you again?! Yayoicchi! Onii-chan will beat them up if you tell him who it was!” He pounds on her door and Yayoi wails louder. 

When Mama comes home, she scolds Ryouta for bullying his sister. She’s delicate! He should give her space! 

Ryouta doesn’t understand. He just wants Yayoi to look at him and smile. 

\--- 

A couple months into Yayoi’s first year at middle school, she stops crying. She spends a lot of time ignoring Ryouta to text her new friends. 

One evening, Ryouta comes home and Yayoi isn’t there. He spends all afternoon lying on the couch, channel-surfing. Mama comes home and he asks, “Mama, where is Yayoicchi?” 

“She’s out with her friends, Ryouta-kun. She has a life of her own you know, she doesn’t have to tell you everything. Now help me make dinner.”  
“Why wouldn’t she tell me everything! I’m her beloved older brother!” 

Mama laughs like she thinks he’s kidding.

\--- 

When Yayoi brings her friends over for the first time, she won’t let Ryouta into her room to meet them. 

“Let me just say hi, Yayoicchi! Please!” 

“No, foolish Onii-chan! They’re my friends, not yours!” Yayoi is scowling at him, but she isn’t crying. 

“I know that, Yayoicchi, I just want to say hello to the--” 

“You can’t have them!” Yayoicchi shouts and slams the door behind her. Beyond the door Ryouta can hear strange voices comforting her. 

“It’s alright, Yayoi-chan, we’re here for you!” comes a particularly bright voice.  


Ryouta is here for her too. Why won’t she let him in?

\--- 

When they lose the game against Seirin, Ryouta walks home with with Kasamatsu-senpai. Ryouta has been sulking since the game and every time his senpai catches him he kicks him in the shins. 

“Don’t look so down, freshman! You look like you’re going cry again!” 

Ryouta stops in his tracks and just starts bawling. Big, fat tears pouring down his cheeks and snot leaking out of his nose. 

“Senpaa _aaa_ ai!” He wails and throws his arms around Kasamatsu, who struggles to hold Ryouta’s tall and heavy frame. 

“I lost the game!” Ryouta moans, rubbing his wet face against Kasamatsu’s hair, “And my little sister hates me!” 

“Get it together, freshman!” Kasamatsu punches Ryouta in the gut and he doubles over. 

\---

His sister hates him. That hurts worse than losing the game or being rejected by Kurokocchi. It hurts Ryouta so much he doesn’t know how to stop the hurting. All he wants is for her to be happy and to love him. But there isn’t anything he can do to make her love him. He’s never felt this sad. 

That weekend, he agrees to meet Kasmastsu at the park to play some one-on-one. He’s waiting on a bench when this giant red demon shows up and start shouting about despair and ‘bad ends’. 

Overwhelmed by grief, despair, loneliness and self-loathing, Ryouta slumps over on the bench and feels like he could die. 

It’s over, he thinks, there isn’t anything worth living for if I can’t be loved by my little sister. 

“Don’t give up!” Someone is grabbing him by the shoulders and shaking him. “She does love you!” Through the haze of Ryouta’s anguish, he can see something sparkling. He focuses and sees a young woman with a huge, curvy ponytail coming out of the top of her head and a bright yellow costume. 

“Don’t give up!” she repeats, shaking him some more. “Onii-chan!” 

“Yayoi...?” 

The young woman looks like her, sounds like her. But this young woman is not afraid. This young woman is fierce and crackling with energy. She smiles at him and let him go. She runs off to attack some kind of giant car shaped monster with other girls dressed in similar uniforms. Lightning shoots out of her hands and zaps the monster and when Ryouta comes to again, it’s gone and so are the girls. 

The park is back to normal and his cell phone is vibrating with several alerts to text messages from Kasamatsu.

“Where are you freshman!? Don’t make your senpai wait!” 

Eventually Ryouta finds Kasamatsu and they play together. Ryouta feels energized, like the despair he felt before has been banished from his body. 

“Hey, freshman, looks like you’ve got fans,” Kasamatsu remarks, motioning to something behind Ryouta. Expecting to see the usual group of adoring fans, Ryouta looks, they aren’t there.

Instead, it’s Yayoi, waving at him and smiling. She’s with four other girls who are all smiling at him. 

“Onii-chan! Do your best!” Yayoi calls and Ryouta’s face feels wet. He brushes the tears from his eyes and hopes it looks like he’s just sweaty. 

“Yayoicchi!” he calls back and waves to her. The girls sit on the sidelines of the court and watch them play. Eventually, two of Yayoi’s friends ask to join the game and Kasamatsu and he play against them. Even with her friends playing, Yayoi still cheers his name. 

\--- 

A few weeks later, Yayoi and all her friends are in their house studying together for exams. Ryouta has already been scolded by their mother three separate times for being distracting and has now been banished to his room. He isn’t necessarily eavesdropping when he presses his ear to the wall he and Yayoi share, this is just the most comfortable position for him to be in. 

“You’re brother is so handsome, Yayoi-chan,” Comes the bright voice of a girl Ryouta thinks is named Miyuki. 

“Yeah, I guess...” She guesses?! 

“Is something wrong, Yayoi-san? Whenever we talk about your brother, you seem distressed.” Reika was that girl’s name, Ryouta remembers because she was so formal when she introduced herself. 

“Well... it’s just... sometimes... my brother can be really nosy and prying. It’s overwhelming. I know he means well but... I can’t be like him.” 

“You don’t have to be like him, Yayoi-chan!” Miyuki’s bright voice pipes up again, “You only have to be yourself!” 

Ryouta can hear Yayoi sniffling and then the girls are laughing and, he imagines, hugging. They all hug a lot. 

\---

Ryouta spends the rest of the evening in his room, being quiet. He waits until the girls have all gone home and Yayoi has settled back in her room before he goes down the hall and knocks lightly. 

“Is that you, Mama?” Yayoi calls and Ryouta opens the door and peers inside. Yayoi is sitting at the easel he and Mama bought for her for her birthday, painting a picture of a warrior princess. She looks up and is startled to see him. 

“Onii-chan... you don’t usually knock if the door is unlocked.” 

“Can I come in, Yayoicchi?” He asks and she looks even more surprised. 

“...O-of course.” She puts away her paints and they sit together at her desk. 

“Yayoicchi, I wanted... I just want to say...” Ryouta has never had to apologize to someone like this before, and he struggles to find the words. “Yayoicchi...”

Yayoi is looking at him with concern, her little eyebrows drawn together and her large eyes glittering. Ryouta’s lower lip begins to tremble and he can’t stop himself when he throws himself down on Yayoi’s desk. 

“I’m sorry Yayoicchi! So sorry! I’m a terrible older brother! I make you feel so sad! I’m sorry I’ve been such a burden! I’m so sorry!” he wails.

“You must hate me! I’m so terrible and selfish!” He whinges, his tears pooling on the wooden surface. 

Over the sound of Ryouta’s sobs comes Yayoi’s soft laughter. It makes Ryouta stop crying and look at her, bewildered. She has little tears forming at the corners of her eyes but she’s covering her mouth to hold in her giggling. When she notices him looking at her. 

“Oh foolish onii-chan,” she sighs, “I love you.” 

“R-really?” 

“Of course! You’re just so ridiculous sometimes that I--” Ryouta still hasn’t regained control of his body when he flings himself onto Yayoi, hugging her around the middle and pressing his face against her skirt. 

“I love you too, Yayoicchi! I promise to be the best big brother from now on!” 

Yayoi punches him in the head hard enough to leave a swollen bump, but she says she still forgives him afterwards. 

\---

When Yayoi graduates from middle school, Ryouta and his mother both cry at the ceremony. Kasamatsu, who Ryouta has dragged along, looks uncomfortable trying to comfort them both. 

Yayoi doesn’t cry, not even when their mother tells her how proud their father must be of her for working so hard. Instead she smiles and hugs her. 

Ryouta never asks Yayoi about that day in the park, or the mysterious young woman with the lightning. He doesn’t need to. Yayoi has grown into a confident, powerful young woman and she’s not afraid to let him know. She still keeps him at a distance sometimes, like she’s keeping a secret. He knows it involves her group of friends, but he doesn’t need to know the details. He still showers her with affection and sometimes acts a fool, but she kindly tolerates him and has taken a page out of Kasamatsu’s book and started kicking him in the shins to keep him in line. 

Yayoi has started laughing again, and that’s all he could hope for.


End file.
